This invention relates generally to an improved bookholder for use with a source of illumination, such as a piano lamp, pole lamp or similar light source on a separate support or stand.
More particularly, the invention relates to improvements in a bookholder adapted for attachment to a separate light source standard with improved means for shading the eyes of the reader from the light source while reading in a reclined or sitting position.
In my U.S. Pat. No. 4,907,777 issued Mar. 13, 1990, an improved bookholder was disclosed for inclined reading in bed, wherein a support arm assembly was pivotally attached to an inclined back wall. The back wall was supported from a base to form the lid for an open box structure with an illuminating device. The bookholder was intended for use in a bedside table.
Further improvements to this type of bookholder led to my U.S. Pat. No. 4,896,252 issued Jan. 23, 1990, wherein a pair of separately movable arms were pivotally attached to a back rest as to provide ledges for supporting a book for reclined reading, or alternatively supporting a book in horizontal position in the manner of a lectern.
Further improvements led to my U.S. Pat. No. 4,998,703, issued Mar. 12, 1991 in which the pivotal ledges for holding a book in a number of different orientations, also were pivotable to provide the side walls of a box-like structure, which also contained an illuminating light source. The fixed front wall of the box-like structure serve to shade the reader's eyes from the light source.
While the aforesaid bookholders are useful in providing compact bookholders with a self contained light source which can be closed up when not in use, there are situations were space is limited, while at the same time existing independent light sources are available. Examples of such light sources include pole lamps, or piano lamps, with a light source mounted on a standard such as a base and a support pole. Such lamps come in a variety of shapes and sizes and may also include tall table lamps or lamps adapted for clamping to beds or tables. Such lamps usually have decorative shades for directing the light in a downwardly direction, but are poorly suited for looking upward into the lamp from a reclined or sitting position which is lower than the light source.
I have perceived that there is a need for a bookholder which may be attached to a conventional floor lamp with little effort, without damage to the lamp, and which can be easily removed and folded up into a minimum space when not in use. I have further observed that while bookholders attached to, or adapted for attachment to, pole lamps are known in the prior art, they are poorly suited for a reader who may be in a reclined position or sitting below the light source, since there is a glare in the reader's eyes.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 438,856 Mueller, issued Oct. 21, 1890; U.S. Pat. No. 1,538,198--Manchester, issued May 19, 1925; and U.S. Pat. No. 1,781,203--Teliki, issued Nov. 11, 1930 all show bookholders or lectern devices adapted to be attached to the standard or pole supporting a light source, but do not protect the reader's eyes from the glare of the light source. While my own patents mentioned above all recognize and solve the problem of shading the eyes of the reader from the glare of the light source, these arrangements are best suited where the distance and orientation of the reading matter from the light source is more or less fixed. However, in the case of a bookholder which is adapted to be attached to any one of a great variety of shapes and sizes of independent light sources, there is a need for an equally adaptable and flexible device to shade the eyes of the reader, regardless of the type of standard supporting the light source. At the same time, the bookholder must be adapted for folding into a compact position and useful in a variety of situations. Ideally, it may also be used as a free-standing, table-top bookholder without attachment to the light source standard.
Accordingly, one object of the present invention is to provide an improved bookholder with an adjustable shade which is adapted for attachment to the standard of a light source.
Another object of the invention is to provide an improved bookholder for holding a book in a selected orientation with respect to an independent light source, having an improved adjustable shade to protect the reader s eyes from the glare of the light source.